The Mountain Dwellers

Author: Phillip Richard Brown (St John's 1972)

Publisher: Arena Books

It is a common and enduring characteristic of what the author calls Mountain Dwellers that they lament the decline of what they define as civilisation, and express their regret by distancing themselves, if not geographically then morally or spiritually or intellectually, from all those whose ignorance of, or indifference to, such matters can only serve to hasten the decline of civilisation so defined. Now that the foundations or tenets of civilisation are perceived to be increasingly under threat, those who care sufficiently to want to preserve them have awakened from their slumbers to the almost martial-tread of pseudo-intellectuals, and others stultified by the intoxicating influence of political correctness, who prefer either to call civilisation by another name and, by opposing, denigrate it, or else, retaining the word, alter its definition, rendering the term meaningless by brazenly and ignorantly extending its inclusivity to infinity. The Mountain Dwellers touches on themes of fundamental importance: Individuality, Language, Political Correctness, Religion, Education, Mediocrity and Role Models; these different strands are brought together by arguing that progress forward is invariably accompanied by retrogressive reaction; a reaction, however, that is capable of halting progress in its tracks and negating it; progress and these retrogressive and nullifying tendencies are alluded to figuratively by The Halls of Enlightenment and The Corridors of Darkness. This book is the third part of a trilogy, following The Gods of Our Time and Dreams and Illusions Revisited.